Collection and Taxonomy of Shallow Water Marine Organisms

Title: Collection and Taxonomy of Shallow Water Marine Organisms



POTENTIAL OFFERORS WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR DOWNLOADING THEIR OWN COPY OF THE SOLICITATION AND ANY AMENDMENTS THAT MAY HAVE BEEN ISSUED. This acquisition is being advertised under full and open competition.

The National Cancer Institute is seeking a qualified contractor to provide support to NCIs Natural Products Branch (NPB), Developmental Therapeutics Program (DTP), Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD), NCI. The NCI is seeking a contractor to collect a substantial number of marine invertebrate samples for extraction and subsequent screening for antitumor activity. This project is to continue the exploration of marine organisms from the Tropics and other areas where unusual habitats may have well evolved more specialized organisms and to use these organisms as a source of potential new agents (pharmacophores) which can be developed for the selective treatment of cancers in humans.

The target is to collect, taxonomically identify to species level, and to ship up to 450-500 samples per year (on average) over the five year contract term, of marine invertebrates (which may include up to 10% of algae/cyanophytes) with wet weights of roughly 1 kilogram each, in a frozen condition from the collection sites to NCI-Frederick. In all collections, the major objective of the program is that the collected species be from as wide a diversity of phyla and classes as is possible.

The major collection areas will be the tropical and subtropical areas of the Worlds oceans from sea level to ~50 meters. Collections from both niche areas and from depths exceeding SCUBA depths of ~50 meters may be considered provided scientific rationales and access to suitable equipment are acceptably defined and realistically feasible. Collections may be performed by subcontractors/consultants to the prime contractor. Due to uncertainties, collections need not be performed in every year of the contract, but the contractor must have the capacity and requisite expertise to collect, taxonomically identify to species level, and to ship up to 450-500 samples per year (on average) over the contract term.

Request for Proposal (RFP) N02-CM-87021-17 may be accessed on/about August 20, 2008, at the NCI Office of Acquisitions Website at URL: http://rcb.nci.nih.gov/. Once there, click on Current Requests for Proposals. Under the Section entitled Current Requests for Proposals, click on number N02-CM-87021-17 entitled, "Collection and Taxonomy of Shallow Water Marine Organisms." Interested parties are expected to review this notice and the Request for Proposal to familiarize yourself with the requirements of this project; failure to do so will be at your firms own risk. POTENTIAL OFFERORS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR DOWNLOADING THEIR OWN COPY OF THE RFP AND ANY AMENDMENTS. It is the responsibility of potential offerors to monitor the above website for the release of this RFP and amendments, if any.

This solicitation is anticipated to result in one (1) award to an offeror capable of performing all aspects of the work described in the statement of work. This contract shall be cost-reimbursement, completion type and will be awarded for a period of five (5) years. All responsible sources may submit a proposal which shall be considered by the Government. This advertisement does not commit the Government to award any contract. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541712 with a size standard of 500 employees. The proposed contract project represents a re-competition of NCI Contract N02-CM-27003 with Coral Reef Research Foundation.

Collect calls will not be accepted.